Siege Beast

This is my Siege Beast I designed and built for a fantasy themed isometric 3rd person action RPG. Its primary role is to breach enemy fortifications and destroy enemy towers. It also does heavy damage to enemy monsters and players that get within range. This post documents the stages of development showing the progression from two initial thumbnail ideation sketches to the final rigged 3d model.

As I started thinking of the overall form and structure for this beast, my initial ideation lead me towards a blend of rhinoceros, komoto dragon, bulldog and armadillo. I wanted it to have the following characteristics: Aggressive size, weight and power. A low center of gravity for stability and linebacker like power to blitz thru enemies. Heavy armor to withstand weapons attacks from towers above. Long forklift like tusks for getting underneath objects and flipping them over.  I also wanted to add a weapon like a whipping tail or an ability to fling projectiles. I decided to go with a long whipping tail similar to a blend of rat and stegosaurus. I also decided to root the tail between the shoulder blades where it looks more unique, has a longer forward range and can attack similar in manner to a scorpion.

Below is the first pass complete diffuse textured and rigged model. In this attack position it lunges forward while rotating its torso and flings its tail in a whipping motion.

Below shows the orthographic model sheet, flat shaded and textured model. Once I roughed the form in 3d I stretched it out by lengthening the torso and hips.

Below are the first two ideation sketches. Do you remember the Herculoids? While ideating this creature I think I had a faint impression lingering in my memory of Tundro from the Herculoids - the big heavy creature that shot lava from it's horn. I was a fan of the Herculoids as a kid in the 80's. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Herculoids. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QKhIckp4ccY Ideation sketch #2 was more of a boar like creature with a type of horned claw/pincher on it's head. I stuck with the basis of my first design and tightened it down in the model sheet and into the final 3d model.

Check out the Project Realm facebook page where animations will post soon:

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Project-Realm/219139128133897?sk=wall